Charles Duke Interview

Why Going To Mars Shouldn't Be Our Immediate Priority

Quick Bio

Sage advice can be gleaned indirectly from the words of men who've done amazing things. In this interview series by Jim Clash called "The Right Stuff," we share nuggets of wisdom from great men who've taken big risks in life -- boxers, balloonists, test pilots, astronauts, mountain climbers, ocean divers, scientists, Olympians, race car drivers -- and made the world a better place for it.

What exactly is the right stuff? Other than the name of a famous movie and book about the space race, it’s a state of mind. The term is a throwback to a time when character really counted -- when men routinely risked their lives not to get rich, bloviate or self-aggrandize, but for their country, science and exploration.

Clash, a fellow and director at The Explorers Club, is a seasoned adventurer himself. In reporting for Forbes and other publications over the last two decades, he has skied to the South Pole; driven the Bugatti Veyron at its top speed of 253 mph; flown in a MiG-25 at Mach 2.6 to the edge of space; visited the North Pole twice; and climbed the Matterhorn, 23,000-foot Aconcagua and virgin peaks in Antarctica and Greenland. He has also purchased a ticket from Virgin Galactic Airways to fly into suborbital space in 2013.

On April 20, 1972, as part of Apollo 16, Charles Duke became the 10th -- and youngest -- man to step onto the lunar surface, just minutes after his crewmate John Young.

In a way, Duke was famous even before he flew. As a mission control specialist in Houston when Apollo 11 ran long on its landing -- barely reaching the lunar surface before using all of its fuel -- Duke deadpanned in a Southern drawl, “Tranquility, we copy you on the ground. You got a bunch of guys about to turn blue. We're breathing again. Thanks a lot!"

We caught up recently with the 76-year-old retired U.S. Air Force brigadier general. A former Eagle Scout and a member of The Explorers Club, Duke currently serves as chairman of the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation.

He talked bluntly about why we need to go back to the moon before tackling Mars with a manned mission, his disappointment that the U.S. is now relying on Russia to ferry astronauts to and from the International Space Station, and even where he keeps his personal moon rock. Duke also explained how a playful moment on the lunar surface nearly cost him his life.

With the successful landing of the Mars rover Curiosity this week, his comments have never been more relevant.

Jim Clash: What do you think of a manned mission to Mars? Some say go back to the moon first; others say go straight to Mars.

Charles Duke: I think my generation of astronauts is half on one side, half on the other. Buzz Aldrin is “direct to Mars, we’ve been to the moon.” I think to develop the systems and spacecraft to go to Mars and stay for that [long] duration, we want to do it on the moon because we’re close enough to get help. Once you get to Mars, you’re on your own. It’s “Hello, Houston,” and [a reply] comes back 12 minutes later! You’re basically independent out there. I also think there are good scientific reasons to go back to the moon. Build a base like we have in Antarctica. It’s a great place to establish a telescope. We started out with UV cameras for the first observation of the heavens on Apollo 16 and brought back a lot of information. We can learn techniques perhaps to extract what [Apollo 17 moonwalker] Jack Schmitt says -- the Helium 3 isotope -- a tremendous power source back here on Earth. You never know what we can learn until you start doing it. So I’m for going to the moon again first, but I don’t know whether we’re going to do that.

JC: We haven’t been back to the moon since Apollo 17, and we don’t even have our own transportation for astronauts to ISS.

CD: I am very disappointed that in 2010 when we decided to finish the Shuttle, we canceled the follow-on, Constellation -- a return-to-the-moon, long-duration-stay, build-a-base program. Now we’re paying the Russians to take us into space. We beat them like a drum during the Cold War. It is sad -- ironic, really. Even the Augustine Commission said that if we don’t commit to a space posture and goal, we’re going to lose our technological edge within a decade. And I think that’s true.

JC: Take us back 40 years. What are your most enduring lunar memories?

CD: The most vivid is the beauty: the stark contrast between the brilliant gray of the moon and the blackness of space. The gray was so bright it was almost white -- a sharp break between the surface and the horizon. The sun was always shining, so you didn’t see stars or planets. You could see Earth, but where we were -- a little south of the center of the moon -- it was difficult. Earth was directly overhead, and, when I looked up, I saw the top of my helmet [laughs]! When I look now at photos and videos taken, I can remember landmarks like Stone Mountain and Red Crater -- those kinds of things. I also remember a lot about riding in the rover -- John [Young] drove me around. So, yes, a lot of memories after three days up there.

JC: How about personal feelings?

CD: It was exhilarating. But as far as feelings, there was no spiritual or philosophical experience -- it was an adventure. I’m a test pilot who loves exploration. My thoughts were: “What’s over the next ridge? What’s the next experiment? There’s a rock over there we ought to get!” These are the kinds of things that motivated me.

JC: Can you believe you were really there?

CD: Yes. It’s never seemed like a dream to me, and it was so awesome to stand where nobody had ever been before -- at least the area where we landed. You could see the major landmarks you had to explore, so you felt right at home. It was so exciting: “Man, I’m on the moon!”